There was a moment when Jeff Mills, the 57-year-old techno pioneer, had established a career outside of the dancefloor, one in cinemas and museums. He continues today to question the association of electronic music with clubs and the overwhelming majority of world producers that tailor their music to dance. While looking for other forms of electronic music, he was dismayed to find that almost all music that didn’t have a dance beat was labelled “ambient” – or something similar. He then sketched out the first lines of a project intended for older music fans that rarely go out but still have the essence of nightclubs running through their veins. He developed an interest in artists who integrate jazz into their electronic productions, through sampling or live recordings, with the desire to work with them and provide something more.
Jeff Mills has joined forces with producer/pianist Byron The Aquarius here. Signed to Sound Signature (Theo Parrish’s label), Byron is a legend on the Detroit scene thanks to his unforgettable EP Highlife (and his keyboard on Flying Lotus’ Roberta Flack) and is known for his piano jazz played on top of house beats. Mills proposed that they create an album together with the idea of creating “an avant-garde escapade” that would reimagine “what electronic music is capable of”. Byron the Aquarius called upon an array of musicians who all recorded in separate sessions. Among them was the incredible Philadelphia drummer Lil John Roberts, who accompanied DJ Jazzy Jeff as Herbie Hancock. The result is several rhythmic house compositions (New Beginning notably) in which Jeff Mills accentuates the musicality and the orchestration, although he is often left out of the electronic composition. The groove on Spirits of Juju is lustful with its Chucho Caldes piano lines, while Timeless is more of a jazzy New-York house track. The climax comes with Space and Time and its organic, drummed house beat (featuring an ultra-groovy bass-solo from the Brazilian Chocolat Costa) which brings together the dancefloor and musicality like never before. And seeing as club-goers aren’t doing much dancing in 2020, this album seems most appropriate. © Smaêl Bouaici/Qobuz